Paper ejector



7 July 22, 1958 W.VE. THOMAS 2,344,370

PAPER EJECTOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 6, 1955 I I I i v 22 INVENTOR. 4'0 A I 40 %26arf mama .5 -v y 45 4.5 P 45 ATTORNEY 'w. E. THOMAS PAPER EJECTOR July 22, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 6, 1955 lllllllllllllm MW M BM ATToRm July 22, 1958 w. E. THOMAS PAPER EJECTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet s Filed May 6, 1955 'lllllllllldj u I I I I I u n u I mmvrbm M14421! 5'. Mamas ATTORNEY United States, Patent ice PAPER EJECTOR Wilbur E. Thomas, Wayne, N. J.

Y Application May 6, 1955, Serial No. 506,411

19 Claims. (Cl. 271-42) My invention relates generally to paper ejectors, and specifically to a paper ejector'intended to accomplish unidirectional movement of paper.

It is among the objects of my invention to provide a paper ejector which can handle large or small sheets of paper.

Another object of my invention is to provide a paper ejector which can be provided with interchangeable rollers, having varying coefficients of friction.

Another object of my invention is to provide .a paper ejector which can be easily replaced, repaired, or interchanged.

, Another object of my invention is to provide a paper ejectorwhich may be moved from one operating position to another, snapped into place, or be operated cooperatively with other paper ejectors.

Another object of my invention is to provide a paper ejector which may be made inoperative at-will by a latching operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide a paper ejector which will not skid on paper, but-will, feed paper for the entire extent of its forward movement, thereby eliminating irregular extension of different papers in a group.

Another object of my invention is to provide a paper ejector which permits easy loading of papers in collator trays, as well as replenishing, addition, or withdrawal of papers.

Another object of my invention is to provide a paper ejector that will not heel and thereby miss ejecting a sheet. a I

Another object of my invention is to provide a paper ejector which will not mark the paper, smudge wet ink, or heel over in such a manner as to mar the paper to be ejected.

Another object of my invention is to provide a paper ejector which will immobilize its rotating elements on the forward stroke, but permit them to easily and freely roll on the'back stroke.

Another object of my invention is to provide .a paper ejector of great flexibility and interchangeability in which it is possible to increase or decrease the frictional value of the rollers in a speedy manner.

These objects and advantages, as well as other objects and advantages, may be achieved by the device illustrated in the drawings in which Figure 1 is a view in perspective showing my paper ejector latched in inoperative position;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the ejector shoe;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the ejector arm;

Figure 4 is a view in perspective of the double latch;

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 in Figure l;

Figure 6 is a front elevational view of the roller;

Figure 7 is a side elevational view of the rollers in binding engagement;

, Figure 8 is a side elevational view of the rollers disengaged;

Patented July 22, 1958 Figure 9 is a side elevational view of the paper ejector latched in inoperative position;

Figure 10 is a side elevational view of the paper ejector unlatched in operative position;

Figure 11 is a side elevational view of a collator with the side wall exploded away showing the ejector mechanism about to perform a paper ejecting movement;

Figure 12 is a side elevational view showing amodified construction;

Figure 13 is a side elevational view showing another modified construction;

Figure 14 is a front elevational view showing a further modified construction;

Figure 15 is a cross-sectional view of the construction shown in Figure 13;

Figure 16 is a front elevational view showing another modified construction; and

Figure 17 is a front elevation-a1 view showing an additional modified construction.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, my paper ejector has an ejector arm 21, preferably formed of metal and having down-turned sides 22, giving it a U-shaped latitudinalcross-section. The front end 23 of the ejector arm 21 has side portions extending beyond the top to form a pair of opposite ears 24. These ears have holes 47 to admit a roller axle. The back 25 of the ejector arm 21 has an extended portion 26 which is a continuation of the top of the ejector arm 21 and extends beyond the sides 22. The end 27 of this extended portion is bent downward slightly. On the top of the ejector arm 21, a slot 28, transversely disposed, is located.

A double latch 29 is also provided. The forward end of the double latch 29 has an upstanding portion 30 with an arcuate end 31. The rear 32 portion of the double latch 29 is bent slightly downward and has a V-shaped, transverse groove 33 and a straight end portion 34. The double latch 29, at least insofar as its opposite end portions are concerned, is resilient being preferably formed of hardened and tempered spring steel. The upstanding portion 30 is inserted in the transverse slot 28 in the ejector arm 21. The rearward, V-shaped transverse groove 33 or depression is thereupon disposed opposite the rearward extension 26 on the ejector arm. The double latch 29 and the ejector'arrn 21 are secured together, preferably by spotwelding.

An ejector shoe 35 is also provided. This shoe is in the form of rectangular housing, but open at the bottom, and rear, but having side walls, a front wall, and a top wall. The'side walls are provided with opposed openings 36 near the rear edge, and are so dimensioned that the ejector shoe 35 will fit between the forwardly extending ears 24 of the ejector arm 21. When the openings 36 in' the shoe 35 are brought into coincidence with the corresponding holes in the forwardly extending ears 24 on' the ejectorarm 21, the rear 37 of the shoe 35 will extend under thefront-top edge 38 of the ejector arm so that the ejector shoe 35 can pivot upwardly but cannot pivot downwardly below its point of parallelism with the Immediately ahead ejector arm, as shown in Figure. 9. of the axle-receiving openings 36 in the shoe 35, the side walls have elongated opposed slots 39. 'The shoe 35 is preferably formed of metal of the same character as the ejector arm.

The opposite openings 36 in the ejector arm 21 and in the shoe, as well as the elongated opposite slots 39 in the 'shoe, are designed to receive spring pressed pins 40 which. constitute the axle upon which the roller 41 revolves.

62 and an annular extension or axle 43 beyond the shoulder constituting the axle upon which the roller 41 will revolve. A spring 44 is inserted into the tubing 42 between a pair of the pins 40 likewise inserted at opposite ends of the tubing 42 with the axle portion 43 extending beyond the end of the tubing 42. The ends 45 of the tubing are then spun over to confine and retain the pins inside the tubing 42, and yet permit them to be pressed inwardly against the action of the spring so that they may be disengaged. A rubber sleeve 46 is then fitted over the tubing 42. Although rubber is preferred, any resilient material having a high coefiicient of friction, may be used. By pressing the pins 40 inwardly, the axles 43 may be introduced through the openings 36 in the ejector shoe 35 and through the ejector ear holes 47 thereby engaging the shoe 35 and the arm 21 together.

A similar roller 41 may in like manner be inserted in the elongated slot 39. The ejector arm 21 may then be secured to the cross-rod 48 of the ejector chassis by spreading the extended portions 26, 32 of the ejector arm 21 and the double latch so that they embrace a constricted central portion 49 of the cross-rod 48 on the uprights. The ejector arm 21 may then be laterally moved into position on the cross-rod 48 beyond the constricted portion 49 and is ready for operation. The operation of my device is as follows:

The ejector arm 21 is positioned between the ejector assembly uprights 50 so that the cross-rod 48 is embraced and held by the latch 29 and the extension 27 on the ejector arm. The ejector arm 21 is then raised until the upwardly extending end 31 engages the forward cross-rod 51 and holds the ejector arm in the position shown in Figure 9. A stack of paper is then inserted in the tray and the ejector arm 21 is unlatched from the forward cross-rod 51 so that the shoe 35 is parallel to the paper and the two rollers 41 in the shoe bear directly on the paper.

The ejector carriage uprights 50, being slideably mounted on the rods 52 are then moved forward. This causes the front roller 41, whose axle is slideably positioned in the slots 39 in the shoe, to move rearwardly until it bears on the rear roller 41 as shown in Figure 7. Since these rollers are operating in opposition to each other, as indicated by the arrows by the rollers 41 in Figure 7, and since they are covered with rubber which has a high coeflicient of friction, they will bind against each other and will not revolve. The lower portion of each roller 41 which bears on the paper 53 will frictionally engage the top sheet of paper and move it in a forward direction, ejecting it.

When the maximum movement of the ejector assembly carriage has been achieved, the movement of the carriage is reversed and the ejector arm 21 moves to the rear as does the shoe, as shown in Figure 8. With this rearward movement, however, the forward roller 41 slides on its axle to the opposite end of the slot 39 and becomes free to rotate as it disengages itself from binding against the rearward roller 41. Thus the rollers move freely over the topmost sheet of paper and do not frictionally engage it or move it. When the maximum rearward movement of the ejector carriage uprights 50 has been reached, the first mentioned opposite movement is again initiated and the paper ejector performs the same function over again, once more ejecting the topmost sheet of paper by frictional engagement of the rollers which are locked with each other against rotation. The sheet of paper is ejected from the front end of the tray. Ejector arms 21, such as the foregoing, find a maximum utility in a collating device in which numerous sheets of paper are intended to be ejected and in which the trays are constantly in need of replenishment. Such collating devices frequently, unintentionally fail to eject a sheet and the collated material is thereby incomplete. Frequently, it may be required that the collated papers shall lack a single sheet, in which case, the ejector arm 21 in one of the trays may be rendered inoperative by latching it,

thereby preventing the ejection of the sheets in that tray. In the event that heavy sheets are to be ejected, rollers having an extraordinarily high coefficient of friction may be devised so that these heavy sheets may be ejected simply by substituting another ejector arm with such a pair of rollers. Two ejector arms, fastened side by side, on the cross-rod 48 may also be used. Ejector arms 21 made in accordance with the present invention are extremely versatile, readily interchangeable, durable, easily renewable merely by disengaging the rollers from the assemblage and replacing them with new rollers.

The previous description of a species of my invention has dealt with a device in which a pair of rollers are ordinarily freely rotatable, except when one roller eugages the other. My invention may take another form in which one roller is permanently immobilized and the other roller in the longitudinal slot is capable of free rotation or may be irmnobilized pending upon the direc tion of movement of the ejector. This variant form of construction may be achieved in a number of ways. In Figure 12, a separater 54 is secured to the shoe or housing 35 above the movable roller 41. This separator 54 is secured to the shoe 35 by welding or in some other suitable manner. The separator 54 is so positioned that it engages the rear roller 41 so that it may not move or rotate on its axis.

In Figure 13, another means for achieving the immobility of the rearward roller 41 is illustrated. It will be seen that the rearward roller 41 is oversized to such an extent that it bears on the roof of the shoe 35 and in that manner is bound so that it cannot rotate. It is apparent that in the form shown in Figure 13, the forward movement of the shoe 35 will cause the forward roller 41 to come into engagement with the rearward roller 41 and during such movement the forward roller 41 will likewise be immobilized by frictional engagement with the rearward roller 41.

A still further means for immobilizing the rearward roller is shown in Figure 14, where the rearward roller 55 is so long that it engages the side walls of the shoe 35. In this manner, the rearward roller 55 is not free to rotate. Figure 15 is another'view of the species shown in Figure 13 in which the-oversized rear roller41 binds on the top of the shoe.

In Figure 16 a still further species of roller is shown. Inthis species, instead of a rubber sleeve 46, annular segments 56 are applied to the tubing 42. These segments 56 are engaged with a separator 54 so that the roller is immobilized.

Or as an alternative, as shown in Figure 17, the separator may be dispensed with and the segments 56 so dimensioned that they will engage the top of the shoe 35 on the inside and the roller will not rotate.

With the use of two .rollers, one immobilized on the rearward stroke and both on the forward stroke, the frictional coefficient of the one rearward roller is suflicient during its rearward movement to restore to original position, any sheet underlying the ejected sheet, which has been inadvertently moved forward. Thus, at the commencement of each forward stroke, it is assured by the preceding rearward stroke that the top sheet will have been restored to congruency with the remaining underlying sheets in the stack, and the ejected sheets will start from the same position in all trays.

In these species, as in the basic type shown in Figures 1 to 11, both rollers are immobilized on the forward stroke, but on the rearward stroke only the rearward roller is immobilized. The additional advantages achieved by this construction, insure restoration of underlying sheets and insure equal ejection of all sheets during the ejector phase, since they all start from perfectly stacked position.

The foregoing description is intended merely to be illustrative of one embodiment of my invention, for many changes may be made in the construction, selection, and arrangement of the various parts, all within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A paper ejector comprising a housing, rollers rotatably mounted on the housing, a dress having a high coefilcient of friction on the rollers one roller being mounted in an elongated slot in the housing, said slot being positioned in proximity with a second roller so that the one roller may move lengthwise in the slot into binding contact with the second roller.

2. A paper ejector comprising a device in accordance with claim 1, means for reciprocating the housing over a stack of paper a surface dress with a high coefficient of friction on the rollers whereby motion of the housing in one direction with the rollers in contact with a sheet will cause the one roller in the elongated slot to bindingly engage the second roller.

3. A paper ejector comprising a means for mounting a roller, a roller rotatably mounted in an elongated slot in said means and movable lengthwise in the said slot, a surface dress with a high coefiicient of friction on the roller, a roller disposed within contact range of the roller during its lengthwise movement in the elongated slot.

4. A paper ejector comprising a means for mounting a roller, a roller rotatably mounted in an elongated slot in said means and movable lengthwise in the said slot, a surface dress with a high coefficient of friction on the roller, a roller disposed within contact range of the roller during its lengthwise movement in the elongated slot, whereby motion of the said means in one direction with the roller in contact with a sheet will cause the roller in the elongated slot to bindingly engage the said roller.

5. A paper ejector comprising a housing, rollers rotatably mounted on the housing, one roller being mounted in an elongated slot in the housing, said slot being positioned in proximity with a second roller, so that the one roller may move lengthwise in the slot into contact with the second roller, a surface dress having a high coefiicient of frictionon the rollers, an arm pivotally attached to the housing.

6. A paper ejector comprising a device in accordance with claim 5, a rear top portion of the housing in contact underneath the bottom front end of the arm when the housing and arm are disposed in parallelism.

7. A paper ejector comprising an arm, means for pivotally attaching the arm to a reciprocating means, means for holding the arm inoperatively suspended, a housing pivotally attached to the arm, a rear roller rotatably mounted in the housing, an elongated slot in the housing, a front roller rotatably mounted in the elongated slot and also movable lengthwise therein, said slot being disposed in proximity with the rear roller so that the front roller may move lengthwise therein into contact with the rear roller.

8. A paper ejector comprising a tubular roller, axles positioned within the roller at each end and extending therefrom, an enlargement at the inner end of each axle, downturned ends on the tubular roller engaging the enlargements on the axle whereby the same are held against discharge from the roller, a spring positioned in the roller between the enlargements and normally urging the enlargements apart from each other, and a dress having a high coeflicient of friction on the roller.

9. A paper ejector comprising a housing, an arm, a first rotatable roller positioned for lengthwise movement in a slot in the housing, a second rotatable roller in the housing, an axle on the second roller pivotally connecting the housing and the arm together, a surface dress having a high coefiicient of friction on the rollers, and said first roller being positioned adjacent to the second roller.

10. A paper ejector in accordance with claim 9, a separator attached to the housing between the first and second rollers, said separator engaged with and immobilizing the second roller, and the first roller being movable in the slot into binding engagement with the separator.

11. A paper ejector in accordance with claim 9, said second roller frictionally engaged against rotation with the top of the housing.

12. A paper ejector in accordance with claim 9, said second roller frictionally engaged against rotation with the side of the housing.

13. A paper ejector in accordance with claim 9, said surface dress being confined to the opposite ends of said roller, a separator attached to the housing between the first and second rollers, said separator engaged with and immobilizing the second roller.

14. A paper ejector in accordance wtih claim 9, said surface dress being confined to the opposite ends of the second roller and in frictional engagement with the top of the housing against rotation.

15. A paper ejector comprising an arm, a housing, a roller positioned in an elongated slot in the housing, a second roller rotatably mounted in the housing and positioned for engagement with the first roller when it moves to one end of the slot, said second roller having an axle, said axle engaged with both the housing and the arm to pivotally secure them together.

16. A paper ejector comprising a slotted arm, a housing, a roller positioned in an elongated slot in the housing, a second roller rotatably mounted in the housing and positioned for engagement with the first roller when it moves to one end of the slot, said second roller having an axle, said axle engaged with both the housing and the arm to pivotally secure them together, a resilient latch attached to the arm, corresponding opposed concavities on the end of the arm and the latch, an arcuate end of the latch extending through the slot in the arm.

17. A paper ejector comprising a housing, rollers rotatably mounted on the housing, one roller being mounted in an elongated slot in the housing, said slot being positioned in proximity with the second roller so that the one roller may move lengthwise in the slot into binding contact with the second roller, means for pivotally attaching the said housing to a reciprocating means, and means for holding the housing inoperatively suspended.

18. A paper ejector comprising a means for mounting a roller, a roller rotatably mounted in an elongated slot in said means and movable lengthwise in said slot, a surface dress with a high coefiicient of friction on the roller, a roller disposed within contact range of the roller during its lengthwise movement in the elongated slot, means for pivotally attaching the said roller mounting means to a reciprocating means, and means for holding the roller mounting means inoperatively suspended.

19. A paper ejector comprising a housing, rollers rotatably mounted on the housing, one roller being mounted in an elongated slot in the housing, said slot being positioned in proximity with the second roller, so that the one roller may move lengthwise in slot into contact with the second roller, a surface dress having a high coefficient of friction on the rollers, an arm pivotally attached to the housing, a resilient latch attached to the arm, corresponding opposed concavities on the end of the arm and the latch, an arcuate end of the latch extending through a slot in the arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 877,895 Lappin Jan. 28, 1908 986,384 Hanau Mar. 7, 1911 1,525,424 King Feb. 3, 1925 1,919,495 Allen July 25, 1933 2,062,643 Edmonds Dec. 1, 1936 2,093,384 Storck Sept. 14, 1937 2,168,486 Marchev Aug. 8, 1939 2,253,141 Schofield Aug. 19, 1941 (Other references on following page) UNITED STATES PATENTS Jeffrey Aug. 2, 1949 Von Haase May 2, 1950 Geib June 26, 1951 Walden Mar. 11, 1952 6 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Mar. 10,1896 Germany Sept. 20, 1926 Great Britain Jan. 9, 1939 

